Hillary Clinton says she opposes building the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Clinton, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president, made the announcement Tuesday after years of pressure from environmentalists to oppose the project.
“I think it is imperative that we look at the Keystone pipeline, as what I think it is, as a distraction to the important work we have to do on climate change,” Clinton said Tuesday at a campaign event in Iowa. "And unfortunately, from my perspective, on that interferes with our ability to move forward with all the other issues."
“Therefore I oppose it,” she said. “I don’t think its in the best interest to combat climate change.”
As President Obama’s secretary of State from 2009 to 2013, Clinton oversaw the Obama administration’s consideration of TransCanada Corp.’s application to build the pipeline from Alberta, Canada’s oil sands to Texas’ Gulf Coast.
Saturday marked seven years since the firm first submitted its application to build Keystone, and Obama has refused to decide on the permit, even when Congress gave him a deadline.